


Bother Figure

by Ladytalon



Category: Borderlands (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst, Bonding, Confessions, Developing Friendships, F/M, Father Figures, First Meetings, Gen, Getting to Know Each Other, Humor, Matchmaking, Mentors, Past Relationship(s), Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-26
Updated: 2020-09-26
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:14:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,770
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26665789
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ladytalon/pseuds/Ladytalon
Summary: Ava is dropped off at Fyrestone where she meets the town's sole inhabitant for the first time.
Relationships: Zed Blanco/Patricia Tannis
Kudos: 6





	Bother Figure

**Author's Note:**

> I've tried to resist even _thinking_ of working on anything like this because I wanted to wait until the Zed/Tannis situation was made clear in Borderlands 3 but Gearbox isn't saying a damned thing, and I'm tired of waiting. So....I'm just gonna leave this here and say the hell with it.

“You look a lot older than the pictures on your med vendors,” Ava says, staring up at the man scowling back down at her. In response, the crease between his eyebrows deepens and his eyes narrow even further. “Uh.”

“ _You_ look like you left your manners back on Athenas with the rest of your sleeves,” he says, folding his arms across his chest. He’s bigger than she thought he’d be, and a _lot_ less nice. Not that she cares. Because she doesn’t.

Tannis doesn’t seem to realize that there’s any tension in the room at all, and breezes past to sniff at the test tubes sitting on the far counter after she finishes examining Zed’s biceps. “As I told you earlier, Ava will need the guidance of a medical professional.”

He takes his eyes off of Ava and looks over at Tannis. “Oh, yeah?”

“Yes. Since there are none available, you will do.”

The scowl makes a comeback. “Thanks.”

“You are welcome,” Tannis says. “Now, her impressionable young mind puts her at risk. Pandora is filled with unsavory elements, such as matrimonially-inclined hulking fiends from the Arid Nexus.” This seems to make him even madder than before, for some reason. “The monks being what they were, Ava’s upbringing has been sorely lacking in areas pertaining to sexual education-”

“Hang on, now; _what?_ ”

“Sex, Zed. I need you to teach her about sex.”

“The hell I will! She can learn ‘bout that from secondhand gossip, just like the rest of us,” he argues. “Get your tongue outta there.”

Tannis stops her impromptu taste test of whatever’s in the tube she’s holding, and she puts it back down before walking over and placing her hands on his chest. “I am not in the habit of saying _please_.”

Ava watches in surprise as he actually starts to give in. “Tricia, I dunno…”

“Fantastic! I shall return to collect her in a few hours,” Tannis says brightly, evading his hands when he tries to touch her.

The door slams behind her, and the room goes quiet as they slowly turn to look at each other. Ava looks up at him, then back to the door. “So, uh. You’re Doctor Zed.”

He grunts at her, also casting a longing glance at the door. “Looks like it.”

“We don’t _really_ have to…you know, talk about…about _that_. Right?”

Zed eyeballs her. “No, and we ain’t gonna. See that ECHOpad over there, far side of the room? Get over there and look somethin’ up.”

“What should I-”

“I don’t give a damn what you watch; just stay away from me. I’m busy.”

“It wasn’t my idea to come in here, either, so cool it with the attitude! It’s not my fault you’re old as balls and have a bad back or…whatever your deal is,” Ava shoots back. It’s probably his hip. Old people are always breaking their hips. “Besides, when was the last time _you_ got any? A hundred years ago?”

Zed moves towards her so quickly, she doesn’t even have time to react as he grabs the back of her hoodie and hustles her outside. She’s dumped in a heap outside the door as it slams behind her, Ava hears an unnecessary amount of chains rattling on the other side as Zed bolts it about twenty times so she can’t get back in. 

She stands up and kicks the door. “Let me back in there, you old bastard!”

“Did those monks teach you t’swear like that?”

“No, your mom did.”

“What’s my momma got to do with anything? Get outta my face!” He stomps off and Ava can hear him slamming things around in there – he’s probably just opening and closing a single drawer ten times in a row, or something.

She wanders out and around to the roll-top door that Zed has apparently forgotten, glaring into the building towards the windows where she can see him digging in a box and flinging things over his shoulder when it’s not what he’s looking for. “You’re making a mess,” Ava calls out.

He ignores her and keeps searching until he pulls a massive buzz axe from the crate, then turns to look at her as he makes a show of testing the edge. “Go away.”

“I wish I could,” she grumbles, making a face at Zed before turning away to look at the building across the street. There’s COV graffiti all over it, and Ava tugs at the metal handle until the curved metal door shrieks in protest and begins to move. The whole thing rolls down instead of up, like she’d thought it would, but gets stuck halfway because there’s something jamming the tracks. She swings a leg over, nearly falling in. 

It doesn’t look like anyone’s been here in years, judging from all the dust and general filth. Ava can see enough to realize that this must be one of Marcus Kincaid’s old locations; the place aboard Sanctuary-3 is a _lot_ nicer. She pokes around until she gets bored, then climbs out to explore further. “What _is_ this place?”

Zed’s leaning against the side of his building, watching her with his arms crossed. “Fyrestone.”

“Kinda shitty, huh?”

“Matches your attitude just fine,” he shoots back irritably. “Quit touchin’ stuff.”

“Whatever.” Ava puts her hands on her hips, looking around curiously. “Why do you live here, instead of on Sanctuary? Shouldn’t _you_ be in the infirmary since your name is all over everything?” She’s even heard his voice on the Crimson Radio advertisements, though he sounded a lot nicer there.

Zed stares at her and blinks slowly. “You’d think so, wouldn’t you.”

“I don’t know why Tannis decided to bring me here. Sometimes she acts so-”

“Don’t you talk trash about her,” Zed warns sharply. “I won’t have it.”

Ava takes a step back, startled by his vehemence. “I wasn’t.”

“See that you don’t.”

He still looks angry, so she tries to change the subject. “This is your home then. Must be nice to…do…things. It’s really quiet. Uh. Peaceful.”

“Nobody comes here any more, on account of how _shitty_ it is an’ all, so ‘course it’s freaking quiet,” Zed replies, pushing off the building and coming over to gesture at her left arm and hold his hand out in a silent demand. 

Ava slowly lifts her arm and lets him examine the tattoos. “No offense, but it looks like a dump.”

“Used to be nice, but bandits screwed it up and then Hyperion tried their best to finish the job.” Zed pushes up her sleeve and frowns. “Those damned twins _did_ finish it, and these…are Maya’s.” He releases her and she moves away, tugging her sleeve back down self-consciously.

There’s no overlay of suspicion or any other kind of judgement in his voice, but Ava swallows hard anyway. “Yeah. I guess…I guess they’re mine now, though.”

“Looks that way,” Zed agrees, starting to turn away from her.

“Did you know her? I mean,” Ava swallows again and her words come out in a rush, “Were you friends, at all? What was she like before she came back to Athenas?”

He pauses, head tilted in thought. “Did I know her? Well, sure I did. She came in from…Three Horns, I think it was, with a group of Vault Hunters fresh off of a run-in with Jack. Helped me out plenty of times. Maya was always the thoughtful type, had a wisdom about her even as young as she was.”

“That sounds like Maya.”

“She had a knack for trouble, too. One minute she’d be readin’ that book of hers, the next she’d have Axton in a Phaselock ‘cause he’d bet she wouldn’t do it for some damn fool reason or another.”

That…does _not_ sound like the Maya she’d known, and Ava leans forward. “Really?”

“Yup. She’d have folks up in that nasty ol’ slag bubble just ‘cause it was Tuesday,” Zed laughs. “The things she could talk me into. Always up for a dare; that was our Maya.”

Tears abruptly start to burn the back of her eyes, and Ava looks down. “She said I’d be a Siren one day, and I was…I was so impatient. I never wanted to take her place.” Ava had always thought they’d be Sirens _together_ , and that she could earn Maya’s respect as an equal.

“I hope not,” Zed tells her. “But here you are, anyway.”

“So what do I do about it?”

“What _is_ there to do? You can’t change things – all you can do is try your best t’be worthy of what fate dropped in your lap. That’s all any of us can do.”

Ava follows him through the town, and perches on a fallen section of pipe when Zed stops to lean against it. There’s a Catch-A-Ride off to the right where a few skag pups are playing around an old ammo chest, and she watches them tussle over a scrap of tubing. “What’s the story with you and Tannis?” she asks cautiously.

“There’s no story,” Zed tells her, but he says it in a way that means _not anymore_ should have been tacked on at the end.

“So you wouldn’t care that she ran off with Typhon DeLeon when-”

His head comes up sharply. “What!”

Yeah, that’s what she’d thought. “I’m not saying she _did_ …waaaaaiiiiiiit a second. Isn’t _this_ the Arid Nexus?”

“Technically, yeah. Why?”

What was it that Tannis had said? Something about matriarchy…no, _matrimony_. “Did…did you want to marry her? Is that what she meant?”

Zed stiffens and won’t look over at her. “You need t’mind your own damn business, kid.”

Ava hugs her knees and wishes she hadn’t said anything – it wouldn’t have mattered if she’d asked him when she first got here because he’d been so nasty, but now she feels bad about it. “If it makes any difference, you’re a lot better looking than Typhon. You’re taller, too.”

He snorts derisively. “I know I am. That movie’s one lie after another; two hours of my life I’ll never get back.”

“You watched the whole thing?”

“Good lookin’ tall folks get bored just like everyone else,” Zed tells her. “So, what’s your deal? Somethin’ tells me there weren’t a lot of kids runnin’ wild on Athenas with all them monks and whatnot.”

“It’s a long story,” she hedges.

“How long can it be? What are you, eleven years old?”

Ava nearly falls off onto the ground in shock. “Eleven? Did you just say _eleven?_ ”

“Oh, guess I aimed too high. Meant t’say ten.”

“I’m sixteen. Six. _Teen_ ,” she yells. 

“Well, now. That’s _much_ older’n eleven. My mistake,” Zed says.

Ava hugs herself angrily so she won’t try to Phaselock him – it probably wouldn’t work anyway, and he’d just laugh at her. “I don’t wanna talk about it.”

“Fine with me.”

“You’re the one who asked in the first place,” she reminds him.

“Was I?”

“ _Yes_.”

Zed glances over at her with a shrug. “Well, y’know how it is when you’re old as balls. Us old bastards forget all manner of things.”

Wincing at the way he’s brought up the way she’d insulted him earlier, Ava hunches her shoulders. “Are you gonna tell Tannis I was mean to you?”

Zed turns to face her, looking amused as he drapes an arm over the top of the pipe Ava’s sitting on. “You that worried ‘bout what she thinks of ya?”

“I dunno,” she says, hugging herself tighter. “Maybe? Is that weird?”

The humor fades from his face, and he looks at her thoughtfully. “Not really. Trish could use someone lookin’ up to her.” 

“I like her a lot. She’s really funny but she can be weird sometimes,” Ava confesses.

“You got _no_ idea.”

“You really love her, don’t you?”

“This ain’t about me.”

Ava smiles and drums her heels on the pipe idly, looking off in the distance. She’s surprised to find that she actually feels _safe_ here, like she belongs somehow. “Tannis didn’t bring me here so you could talk to me about sex, did she?”

Zed sighs and lifts his face to the sun, closing his eyes. “Nope.”

“She really likes your arms.”

“Oh, I know it.” Zed cracks an eye open to look at her. “Hey, kid. Wanna go scare somebody?”

“Sure, I guess. Do they deserve it?”

“When’s _that_ ever mattered? C’mon.” Zed leads the way back into Fyrestone, where he sorts through a scrap pile before selecting a long chain. “This oughtta do it.”

Ava follows him out past the rusted gates of Fyrestone, skirting a group of skags who are playing with a human skull, and Ava hangs back while Zed bangs his fist against the Catch-a-Ride screen after swearing at it. A huge Technical is digistructed on the pads, and Zed looks at the screen triumphantly. “Yeah, that’s what I _thought_.”

“What was that all about?” Ava asks, climbing up into the passenger seat.

Zed gives her a look and hooks a thumb over his shoulder. “Backseat, kid. You ain’t big enough t’be ridin’ up here.”

“Are you serious? I’m a _Siren_.”

“Good for you. I’m a Taurus. Now get your behind back there.”

“Come _on_ ,” Ava grumbles, but climbs in the backseat. Because she feels like it, not because he _told_ her to. “I’m in charge of Sanctuary, you know.”

“Is that right.”

“I’d dump you, too, if I was her!”

“Kid, I don’t mind dumpin’ _your_ ass – in the nearest trash pile,” Zed tells her, starting the truck and making a left turn onto the dirt road. “You meet Krieg, yet?”

“Who?”

Zed’s eyes flick up to meet hers in the cracked rear view mirror. “Guess that’s a no.”

“Is that who we’re scaring?”

He laughs. “Lord have _mercy_ , that’s another no. It ain’t worth my life to try an’ scare _him_.” Zed shakes his head, and laughs again.

Ava leans forward. “So…what’s with the chain?”

“Kinda hard to nab a skag without one.” They pull onto the side of the road – why, she doesn’t know, because who else is going to be driving around Fyrestone? – and Zed grabs the chain after climbing out of the Technical. After licking his finger and holding it up in the air with a thoughtful expression on his face, Zed circles around to the far side of the nearby skag den. Ava watches in disbelief as he catches the closest skag and drags it back to the truck with the rest of the pack hot on his heels. Zed tosses her the chain and leaps back into the driver’s seat, flooring it so that she nearly falls out trying to keep hold of the skag.

When they’re far enough away that they won’t be eaten alive, Zed pulls over and gets back out to take the chain from her. “Don’t s’pose you could keep this thing in a Phaselock for a bit.”

“Oh, uh. Yeah, sure.” The skag’s recovered enough to lunge at Zed, so she hoists it up as requested while he hooks the end of the chain to the back end of the Technical. “So…do you do this a lot?”

“Everyone knows the key to a good scare is unpredictability,” he says. “Here’s what’s gonna happen, kid…” Zed explains what they’re doing but continues to leave out who they’re doing it to.

She _really_ hopes they’re not doing it to Tannis.

They pull over at another Catch-a-Ride near the sign for the Dahl Headland, and the skag chained to the back bumper collapses with a tired-sounding whine. Zed disappears up onto the rocks by the other side of the road and Ava tries to keep an eye on the skag while simultaneously looking around…it doesn’t go that well, so she just stares at the panting skag until Zed gets back. “It’s not Tannis, right?”

“You ever surprise her?”

“No…”

“I wouldn’t recommend it. One time she Phaseshifted all the shields in my vendor – they shot outta that damn thing like bullets from a gun; got me in the back one right after another,” Zed tells her, scowling when she laughs. “She don’t take well to a surprise, I’ll say that right now. Anyways, our target’ll be along anytime now.

When ‘their target’ really _does_ show up, Zed points out the approaching dust cloud and motions her up onto the rocks. As requested, Ava lifts the skag out of sight and tries not to think of Tannis blasting Zed with shields from his own vendor. She peeks out as another Technical emerges from the dust, slowing down for the turn. “Now?”

“Hang on…” Zed types something into his ECHO device. “Okay, bring it around soon as he comes through.”

Ava shrugs and starts to swing the skag in a slow arc through the air, concentrating hard to make sure she doesn’t drop it too early. It zooms over the road to hover directly over the car that’s slowing down, but she nearly loses it altogether once she realizes that the driver is- “You have a twin brother?!?”

“Not really. He’s slowin’ down, he’s _lookin’_ down, aaaaaand… _now!_ ”

The skag, suddenly released from Phaselock, claws at the air wildly as it plummets straight into the back of the Technical. It looses a confused roar, which is echoed by the driver as he turns to see what’s just landed in his backseat. “What the _fuuuuuuck_!” The truck stops so abruptly, he’s thrown against the steering wheel and the skag tumbles forward – still roaring. 

Nobody in the Technical seems to know what’s going on, and it’s the funniest thing Ava’s ever seen in her life. Zed’s clone scrambles out, hitting the ground with a loud thud and rolling away as if that’s going to save him somehow, but the skag has gotten stuck between the dashboard and the front seat. Four clawed feet churn at the air frantically, and it throws up on the window. Beside her Zed is shaking with soundless laughter, his face growing redder by the second until he finally draws in a loud, sobbing breath.

“ _Ohhhh_ …oh my…oh my _god_ ,” he howls, collapsing against the rocks and slapping a hand against them helplessly.

Down below them, his brother-but-not-really has his hand pressed to his chest to help himself calm down and the sound of Zed’s bellowed laughter makes him look up. Ava involuntarily locks eyes with him – the gathering fury on his face makes her realize that what happened really _wasn’t_ that funny, after all. “Uh-oh. Zed, he’s coming up here!”

They take off down the opposite side, jumping into the (unoccupied) truck and Zed floors it all the way back to Fyrestone still laughing his head off. They run back to Building 03 and it’s hard to believe anyone that old can be so fast – maybe he just really knows how to conserve his energy, Ava thinks. “Close the doors,” Zed yells. “Grab that handle!”

Ava does as requested and they haul the door up – Zed latches it and sends her to lock the side door as they hear the loud screech of brakes out by the road. “Do you do this all the time, or what?” she whispers.

The rolling door makes a resounding _bong_ as something heavy hits it. “Open this god-damned _door_ , Zed! Fuckin’ piece of _shit_!” 

_BONG._

“I had t’drive with that skag right by my _leg!_ There is piss _everywhere!_ ”

“How much of it’s yours?” Zed hoots.

_BONNNNNNG._

“I am gonna kick your ass so bad _you’ll_ piss everywhere! Outta your freakin’ _nose_ \- now, open the damned door so I can kill you!”

“Can’t; sorry!”

“Zed, I mean it!”

“So do I,” Zed yells back.

Ava looks back and forth between Zed and the door. “He sounds super mad.”

“He’ll get over it.” Zed wipes his eyes with his forearm and lets out a sigh. “It was my turn to get him, anyway. Last time he came through here, he swapped out my shampoo with depilatory cream.”

“Oooookay…?”

“Folks use it if they don’t want leg hair,” he clarifies, “so you can see that he had it comin’ to him.”

She tries not to laugh, but it’s a losing battle. “For real? Did you go bald?”

“No, but I ended up wishin’ I had – some of it came out in patches and it looked like shit…he’s comin’ around the side. You locked that door, right?”

“Uh…yeah? I think?” She can’t remember. 

The door flies open, rebounding against the wall with a crash. “A- _ha!_ ”

“Great job keepin’ him out, kid,” Zed sighs.

“Sorry…”

Zed’s brother-but-not-really shoulders his way into the building, glaring around before focusing on her. “Who’s this? She yours? Thought you said Patty wouldn’t let you knock her up.”

“She wouldn’t, and she didn’t. This’s our new Siren.”

“Good for her. I’m a Taurus.”

“That’s what he said,” Ava volunteers.

“How come you always get t’say stuff first? Damn!” He turns back to her. “Thanks for the skag.”

“Sure, no problem. I’m Ava,” she says, extending a hand hesitantly.

He reaches his own hand out, and it swallows hers. “I’m Ned, the better lookin’ one.”

“You’re probably the hairier one, too,” she says, which makes Zed scowl and Ned laugh for the first time. “Did that skag _really_? …you know.”

Ned aims a glare at his brother. “Yup. If you weren’t here, I’d drag this dumbass out there and push his face into the seats. Give him a good _whiff_.”

“Just put it on the digistruct pads, you big freakin’ baby! Who the hell cares!”

“My stuff’s in there, right under the damn skag!”

Ava looks back and forth between them. “I can get it out of there. Well, maybe.”

They decide to go out and see what can be done about the situation, which isn’t helped by Zed’s loud wheeze upon seeing the skag still wriggling around in there. The two men start arguing again while she tries to Phaselock the skag and lift it out, but she hasn’t had enough time to really fine-tune her Siren powers. Ned suggests that she try flipping the entire car upside down and _shaking_ the skag loose, which nearly makes Zed lose it again. It works, though, and she helps her new acquaintance pick up the spilled tools, stained paperwork, and weird samples while Zed chases the skag away. “Sorry again.”

Ned makes a face at the dripping piece of paper he’s just reached out for, and diverts his hand to pick up something else. “That thing you do looks like what Maya does.”

Doesn’t _anybody_ know about Maya, yet? The thought of having to explain, over and over again, makes Ava’s chest tighten. “Yeah, um. It is.”

He looks at her for a long moment, then goes back to gathering his things. “Well, damn. Sorry, kid.”

“Yeah,” she whispers.

“How’d you get dropped here with him, anyways? Patty bring you?”

Ava nods, glad for the change of subject. “Zed told me you weren’t twins.”

“That’s ‘cause we ain’t. We’re triplets,” Ned tells her. “Ted’s off…somewhere, doin’ god knows what. Who even knows, with him. I’m still the best lookin’ one, in case you were wonderin’.”

She wasn’t. “Okay.”

“Nobody cares,” Zed points out.

They go back into Fyrestone where Ned teaches Ava how to break into the Marcus Munitions vendors and Zed threatens her with certain death if she ever tries it on one on _his_. After Ned tells her his third consecutive crazy story, she decides to go see what Zed’s doing. 

“Is he always…like that?” Ava asks, hopping up on the counter. Balex probably would’ve said something about her sitting like that if she was still on the ship, but Zed doesn’t seem to mind at all.

Zed looks up from the ECHOpad in his hands. “Pretty much. What was it this time, he tellin’ you ‘bout that thing with Scarlett?”

Scarlett? Ava frowns, shaking her head. From the window, she can see Ned unscrewing one of the panels on a broken med vendor. “He said he was a zombie _and_ a robot.”

“Well, not at the same _time_ ,” Zed tells her, returning his gaze to the tablet. “Pandora can be wild as hell, kid.”

Ava goes around to see what he’s working on. “I’m getting that…what’re you doing?”

“Tryin’ to figure out how many needles I’ll need for the month for each machine,” he says, angling the screen so that she can see it. “You wouldn’t even believe how much the homicide rates fluctuate ‘round Thousand Cuts.”

“I haven’t been there yet.”

He studies her thoughtfully, coming to a decision about something. “You can ride along next time I’m up there, if you’re around.”

“Awesome! I mean, that’s…that’s fine, yeah.” Ava tosses her bangs out of her eyes and tries to look like she doesn’t care one way or another. Nobody likes it when you’re over-eager. Hopefully she hadn’t come across as _too_ pathetic.

From the look he gives her, Zed’s not buying it. “How much use you gotten from these so far?” he asks, tapping a finger against her tattoos and changing the subject.

“ _Use?_ ” Wrinkling her nose, Ava tries to remember. “Not much, I guess. I was on Sanctuary-3 for a while and I was kinda worried I’d accidentally mess something up.”

“Seems like it comes natural to you. Probably t’do with your time with Maya; you know how she used her power, so it’s easier.”

“I guess.” She looks away from him, gnawing on her lower lip. “I wish I didn’t have it at all. If I hadn’t been there…Maya told me to stay behind.” Zed listens quietly as the words spill out in a torrent; it’s like a dam breaking, and she can’t stop until she’s told him everything that had happened. “I just wanted to be _part_ of it, you know?”

Ava hunches her shoulders, waiting for him to kick her out. Zed breathes out slowly. “Believe it or not, I get where you’re comin’ from. Maybe she’d still be alive if you’d done what she asked…but maybe not. It coulda just played out a bit different with the same outcome. There’s no real way to know.”

“But-”

“ _But_ it’s still too raw for you to consider that. It’s only natural for you t’blame yourself for it and you’ll have others blamin’ you, too. There just ain’t a way around that.”

“What can I do about it?”

Zed’s eyebrows lift. “ _Do_ about it? Nothin’.”

“That’s…not helpful.”

“Wasn’t meant to be.”

“Come _on_.”  


“There’s nothin’ you can do,” he repeats. “It sucks, but you can’t change it. Time _might_ be able to.”

“How?”

He leans back in his seat. “You’ll have to wait an’ see.”

Ava’s sigh of disgust makes the corners of Zed’s mouth lift slightly. “That’s _really_ not helpful…and let me guess; that wasn’t meant to be, either.”

“Looks like you’re in charge of Sanctuary for a reason, smarty-pants,” Zed tells her. 

“I guess.” Silence falls between them while Zed returns his attention to the ECHOpad in his hands, and Ava feels the same sense of peacefulness and safety she’d felt earlier in his company. Despite the fact that he hadn’t _really_ helped her, she feels better somehow. “Can I really come back?”

“Already said so, didn’t I.” Zed tilts his head. “How much blood loss do y’all _get_ up on Sanctuary, anyhow?”

Ava grins. “You’d have to ask Tannis. Speaking of her…”

“We weren’t speakin’ of her, and we ain’t gonna,” Zed warns.

“I could help you out.”

“Not interested.”

“Yes, you are! You like her, she likes _you_ , I like both of you! But not like _that_ ‘cause…gross.”

“Yeah, it is. Thanks for makin’ me deathly ill.”

Ava waves her hand through the air, leaning forward excitedly. “Seriously though, I could totally do this. We could make it happen! I can tell you where she’s going to be and you can just show up and flex at her – Tannis would _love_ it.”

“I’m sure she would; it’d solve everything,” he sighs. “Look, kid…just drop it.”

“But-”

“ _Drop_ it,” Zed tells her sharply.

“Okay, fine. I’ll drop it,” Ava promises.

She’s not going to drop it.

He gives her a distrustful look and is clearly going to make her give a _real_ promise, but Zed suddenly tosses his tablet aside and starts pushing his sleeves up hurriedly. “Not one word,” he says, which means exactly _nothing_ to her until Tannis walks through the door. 

Ava hides her smile as Tannis’ eyes are immediately drawn to what Zed’s just uncovered. “Are you prepared to leave?” Tannis asks Zed’s biceps.

“Yeah, I guess.” Ava clears her throat. “He says I can come back the next time he’s going to Thousand Cuts.”

“Well. Good,” Tannis says as she begins drifting closer.

Something tells her that it would probably be a good idea to let them speak privately. “Wait ‘til I tell you about what we did to Ned…I’d better go find him and make sure he’s not still mad.”

“You do that,” Zed replies, standing up quickly. Ava makes her retreat as quietly as she can, though both of them have forgotten that she’s even there – they’re just staring at each other without speaking and it’s kind of weird.

She finds Ned sitting cross-legged on the ground next to the med vendor he’d been fixing, an opened can of beer in his hand. “Hey.”

“Hey, yourself. Ready to head out?” He offers the beer to her and she takes it, sniffing and making a face before handing it back.

“Yup. Tannis is in there talking to Zed. Well, they weren’t really _talking_ at all.”

Ned is up off of the ground in seconds, shading his eyes with a hand as he looks across the street. “ _Daaamn_ , they’re-”

“What? What’s going on in there?!?”

“They’re _still_ not talkin’,” Ned says, looking down at her. “I’d tell you, but you’re much too young to even _know_ what’s happenin’. What are you, seventeen?”

Ava closes her mouth and stands up as straight as she can. “Yup. That’s me. A seventeen year old.” She _knew_ she liked Ned. “Do you think they’ll-”

“They are _totally_ doin’ it.”

“They’re getting back together?”

Ned frowns. “What? No.”

“What did you-”

“Nothin’, never mind,” Ned says hastily, sitting back down.

Ava stomps in frustration, causing dust to swirl up and Ned to clap his hand over the top of his beer can. “Stop interrupting me.”

“Why d’you care, anyhow?” he asks, waving his other hand in front of his face before taking another drink. “You just met him.”

She sits down next to him and takes the beer when Ned tilts it towards her inquiringly. “I know, but…his face is all over the Infirmary. Tannis is basically _surrounded_ by him all day long and she gets a weird look whenever someone says his name; I mean, she’s weird _all_ the time but it’s a different weird. They look at each other like…like…a Vault Hunter who’s been shown a brand new gun but somebody told them that they can’t touch it. I dunno.”

“So…what? You’re gonna singlehandedly bring ‘em back together by bein’ the daughter they coulda had?”

“ _No_ ,” Ava says defensively, even though Ned’s dangerously close to a truth she can’t let herself consider. She already has parents.

Had.

To cover her inner turmoil, she takes a gulp of the beer and promptly spits it out again. “Yeeeeuuuuuuuuggghhhh.” Ava wipes at her tongue, shuddering and trying to ignore the amused look on Ned’s face as he reclaims the can. “You drink that on _purpose?”_

He laughs and drinks the rest, then lets out a belch loud enough to echo off the nearby buildings. “Listen, girl, there’s no way you’ll get those two morons back together-”

“ _Watch_ me,” she says, her temper flaring.

“…by yourself,” Ned finishes, looking at her meaningfully. “Between the two of us, I’m sure we can wear ‘em down in no time.”

“Oh,” Ava says. This could actually _work_. “Okay.” She makes a fist and holds it out, and they tap their knuckles together to seal the deal. “I should probably go see if Tannis is ready to go.”

When she starts to stand up, Ned grabs the back of her hoodie and pulls her back down on her ass. “Better stay put ‘til she comes to get you.”

“But-”

“Do _not_ go in there,” he advises, “and let’s change the subject. So. What d’you do when you ain’t droppin’ skags on folks?”

They talk and while it’s clear that Ned isn’t anything like his brother, Ava has fun talking to him…even if he refuses to discuss what she suspects is still happening in Building 03. She’s telling him a story about the time she turned the monks’ robes orange when Zed and Tannis finally emerge. Ned jerks his chin at Ava in farewell before he gets to his feet and disappears, and she waves goodbye. “Later.”

Tannis clears her throat. “Well. We should be going as well,” she says loudly.

“Sure. Thanks for, uh, letting me hang out,” Ava tells Zed, who nods in acknowledgement. “The skag thing was really funny.”

He smiles at the reminder. “Yeah, it was. I’ll walk y’all to the newer Fast Travel – this one’s on the fritz again.”

“I hope you do not actually _use_ it,” Tannis says.

“It’s fine.”

“Zed, you must take it back offline immediately.”

“I’ll make my own decisions ‘bout what’s right for me, Trish, just like I always do,” he says gently. “C’mon, it’s gettin’ late.” Zed places a hand on the small of Tannis’ back and keeps it there as the three of them walk over to the Fast Travel station...which is strange, because Tannis actually lets him do it. 

Maybe Ava’s plan is going to be a lot easier than she’d thought.

Or maybe not, because as soon as they get to the Fast Travel Zed and Tannis start acting weird again. “Goodbye,” Tannis tells him, still being really loud.

“Yup. Don’t get captured by bandits or nothin’…again.” Zed scuffs the toe of his boot in the scrub grass. “Take care of yourself, you hear me?”

“I can hear you quite well,” Tannis says softly, then pivots away to punch the coordinates into the station with way too much force.

Zed watches her for a moment, then his gaze lands on Ava. “See ya around, kid.” 

The next time she comes to visit, Ava thinks, she might bring her diary and let him read it. “Okay.”

She’s got this.


End file.
